DECLINE AND RESTRUCTURING IN THE UK MOTOR VEHICLE COMPONENTS INDUSTRY

The paper outlines some of the key developments that have occurred in the British motor vehicle components industry during the 1980s. The first part examines the parameters of aggregate decline in terms of employment, output, investment, and trade performance, and attempts to explain why the car component sector in particular has collapsed in the 1980's. The second part focuses on the response of the different actors in the car industry to decline: the assemblers themselves, the major original equipment manufacturers, and the replacement parts manufacturers. Finally, some of the implications of change with respect to the future for the U.K. components sector are discussed. Copyright 1990 by Scottish Economic Society.